- Expanding Experiential Learning in Australian Planning Schools   343 kb by    Baldwin, Claudia & Rosier, Johanna & Slade, Christine | cbaldwin@usc.edu.au    Short Outline This paper reports on a multi-university project with two main goals: to improve EL practices in tertiary planning schools in order to enhance student learning, and to ensure that planning education is relevant to a global future, in collaboration with PIA and industry, by recognising the value of EL in the planning school accreditation process. Abstract Recent reviews have identified the need for development of new skills and qualities in graduating planners in Australia. including collaboration, communication, critical thinking and understanding complexity (Gurran et al., 2008; Jones et al, 2009). Students can construct such knowledge, skills and values by means of direct experience in a real world context, through a purposeful process of engaged, active learning - known as, ''experiential learning'' (EL) (Kassem 2007, p2). Learning in an EL context is dependent on a meaningful interaction between quality experiences and personal reflection of those experiences (Fowler 2008; Harvey et al. 2010). To date, the criteria used by the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA), the accrediting body, to assess planning schools, has not given weight to the contribution made by EL in student learning and development of graduate attributes. This paper reports on a multi-university project with two main goals: to improve EL practices in tertiary planning schools in order to enhance student learning, and to ensure that planning education is relevant to a global future, in collaboration with PIA and industry, by recognising the value of EL in the planning school accreditation process. A baseline survey of all planning schools in Australia and New Zealand conducted by the project team in 2012 identified that EL was a key component in over 100 courses within the 18 universities that responded. Such teaching and learning activities varied widely, including work placements, studio design for a client, field trips and role plays. The number of courses assessing the EL varied depending on the particular learning activity; for example 11 out of 13 formal work placements courses and 18 out of 19 studio courses were assessed but only less than half guest speaker activities were assessed. Both formal and informal assessment is important to give students' feedback on their learning progress and to gauge the benefits of an activity. The project is interested in whether existing assessment methods are adequate for measuring the transformational learning that occurs in EL activities. Therefore, the project team developed and tested activities and assessment methods over two semesters in five Australian universities, based on a collaboratively developed EL framework of principles and criteria. While some of the principles are common features of good teaching and learning (e.g. purposeful), others such as guided and reflective practice, application of theory to practice, and building university-industry- community relations are more specific and critical to EL. The framework is founded on Kolb's experiential learning model (Kolb 1984; Kolb and Fry 1975) which views learning ‘as a process of experience, reflection, cognitive processing, and applying new knowledge in new situations’ (Turunen and Tuovilla 2012, p. 116) The principles aided course designers to draw maximum EL benefit from a wide range of activities, even those with less 'real world' integration such as in-class role plays and guest lectures. Activities were evaluated by use of student surveys and interviews with external participants (i.e. clients). The main project output is a freely available online toolkit of resource materials for use by planning educators to credibly extend the use of EL and improve assessment. The project team also made recommendations to the accrediting body, PIA, in regards to how to adequately recognise and evaluate the benefits of EL to planning graduate attributes. Most importantly, the outcomes are of benefit to planning schools and practitioners around the globe which endeavour to facilitate student's continuous learning and adaptation to a rapidly changing world. Keywords Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2013: Frontiers of Planning - Evolving and declining models of city planning practice   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper